Living in a Lie
by LeelaSmall
Summary: Little Lexy has always lived a very unsual life. With a father who made her steal for him and locked her up upon her return, she has never known any other way of living. But is this her real life? Or this there another reality waiting for her? Rated T for minor violence in later chapters. The character Lexy Watterson belongs to lexboss.
1. Stealing

"OK, you know the drill. Just walk in, take what you need and walk out. Same as every day."

As much as she told herself that it never felt any easier. But then again she was nervous by nature, ever since she could remember. Still, how hard was it to just take stuff from stores without being detected? Her dad had shown it to her a thousand times, and he did it like a pro. And she herself had been doing this since she was just a little kid. So besides her anxiety issues, what was her problem?

She faced the automatic glass doors and gazed at her reflection. Her pink fur was a complete mess, dirty and sticking out in different directions, and her clothes were filthy and rank. Being a cat she should have an instinctive concept of cleanliness, but the conditions she lived in didn't make it easy for her to stay sanitary. In fact, her fur was so dirty it was starting to lose its natural luster.

Finally gathering the courage she needed to walk into the supermarket, she took a deep breath and pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt over her head to conceal her identity. The doors opened instantaneously as she took the first step forward. Entering the building she could hear mood music echoing through the aisles and happy families gathering things into their shopping carts. Her nerves attacked again with that sight, for she had always wished she and her dad could be that happy.

"Come on Lexy, pull yourself together!" she silently scolded herself. "Just get what you came for and get the heck out!"

Taking another deep breath she carried on and walked towards the frozen aisle. Her goal that morning was the same as any other: a premade meal and a six-pack of beer for her dad. He would drink the whole thing and sleep for the rest of the afternoon, while she would have to hear everything locked up in her room. She hated it, but what could she do? He was the only family she had, and it's not like she could just abandon him.

Opening up one of the freezers, she picked up a TV dinner and looked around for the store's surveillance cameras. Locating one right behind her, she leaned over the open freezer, brought the frozen meal as close to her chest as possible, cut out the bar code with one of her sharp claws to not set off the alarms on her way out and placed a large Band-Aid over the hole so the food wouldn't leak. After hiding the meal under her sweatshirt, she picked up another TV dinner and brought it close to her face to trick the cameras, and then put it back in its place so the security guards would think that that was the only thing she had touched.

She was so used to those procedures she could almost do it all without even thinking about it. She would steal food for her dad every day, although sometimes he would have her go for the money. She wasn't very experienced in that field, and one time she was almost caught, but she knew they couldn't afford anything, and that was the only way to get what they needed. Every time she robbed she had a lump in her throat that she just couldn't get rid of. She knew it was wrong, but what else could she do? If she stopped, they would starve.

She did the same to each of the six cans of beer, careful enough not to spill a single drop, and to a box of microwave cheeseburgers and a small pack of gum, those last two being for her. Her dad never let her had any of the food she would get for him, so she was used to taking some for herself and not letting him know about it. If he had a single clue about what she was stashing, besides him taking it for himself, she would be in big trouble.

Grateful her sweatshirt was baggy enough to conceal everything underneath it, she headed towards the exit. She looked around to see if anyone was looking at her, but not enough so as to be too suspicious-looking. She needed to get out without anyone spotting her and figuring out what she was really doing. As she reached the sensor gates she looked around one more time to make sure she wasn't being watched, and increased her walking speed to get out of there as soon as possible.

As soon as she reached the street, she let out a big sigh and tried to calm her nerves. Her heart was beating at full speed, and it almost hurt. She kept walking in her fast pace, for now she had to get home safely.

* * *

After about twenty minutes of walking, she finally reached her apartment building. It was old and should have been condemned years ago, but the government decided they should let deadbeats have a place to live, and they said it by those words exactly. Because nobody even dared to clean it once a week, the halls were always filthy and reeking of urine. The apartments themselves were no prettier, for nobody cared about the littlest law of common decency. It was an immoral cesspool of hobos, washed up alcoholics and hung over drug addicts desperately in need for another fix.

She tried her best not to breathe through her nose as she climbed the stairs up to the third floor. It was nearing lunch time, so she knew her dad was already starting to get restless. Stopping in front of her door, she knocked in a special way he had taught her. He was a wanted criminal and had many enemies, so that was a way he could make sure he wasn't opening the door to any unwanted visitors. Opening the door, he greeted her with an unpleasant expression.

"Where the heck were you?!" he barked, making her cringe. She didn't like it when he got mad. "Do you know what time it is?!"

"Sorry… I-I…" she stuttered, only to be interrupted by him grabbing her wrist.

"Get in here!" he pulled her inside the unsanitary apartment and locked the door. Then he turned to her with a frown. "Did you get the stuff?"

Making sure not to drop her own supplies, she removed the TV dinner and the six-pack from under her over-sized sweatshirt. He quickly took everything from her, licking his lips, and unwrapped the meal. He didn't even bother to heat it up or get a fork; he just scooped everything up to his mouth using his dirty hand.

Lexy was used to his sloppy behavior. He was a dog, so she figured that came naturally to him. All she knew about him what that his name was Jason and that he was a Rottweiler, nothing else. She could never figure out why her own father never told her anything about him. Even being his daughter, he never trusted her with nothing besides being her errand girl. She figured her mom must've been a cat, because if she wasn't, how else could he be her dad?

Watching him eat she realized how hungry she was, giving it away as her stomach let out a loud growl. She covered it with her hands, hoping he didn't hear it, but it was too late. He had stopped gorging to look at her with a raised brow. She gulped.

"Y-you think I could… maybe…" she pointed at his food, to which he frowned and distanced it from her.

"Now, Lexy, you know the rules. I'm the adult, therefore I am bigger. Therefore I – "

"'Need food to fill the space in my large stomach more than a tiny little girl would ever need.'" she completed his sentence, having heard it about a thousand times already. "I know…"

"Good." he returned to his meal, pointing a mashed potatoes-covered finger at her. "And never interrupt me again."

Lexy sighed and nodded. She slowly dragged her feet across the creaky wooden floor as she headed towards her room, only to be locked inside it as soon as she passed the door. He did this to her every time she would return from her 'special mission', as her dad called it. That's another thing she didn't understand about him: why did he keep her locked up in her room every day? And why didn't he let her eat? She didn't know much about parenting, but that didn't seem normal at all.

She sat against her door and heard him turn on the TV and open one of the beer cans. She knew that it wouldn't be long until he was asleep on his recliner, so she took out her own supplies from under her clothes. The sight of the microwave burgers made her salivate in anticipation, for she hadn't eaten anything in the last twenty four hours. Her fingers trembled as she tried to peel off the package's plastic layer as fast as she could, and as she took a bite out of one of those meat sandwiches she felt like it was the most delicious meal in the world.

She stood in the same spot for the rest of the day, despite the occasional bathroom break, which for her was a rusty old bucket in the corner of her room, which she had to empty out every day by throwing its contents out the window. She liked to hear the TV shows her dad watched, in front of which he would fall asleep. They only had basic cable, but what she liked the most was to hear the daily news report. She liked to know what was going on in the world, since the only world she knew was her room and the supermarket she stole from. Every day the story was different: deaths, catastrophes, natural disasters… It was all so amazing to her…

She felt her eyelids start to get heavy soon enough. Getting up and stretching her arms out with a yawn, she made her way to the moldy old mattress that was her bed and took off her old sweatshirt, leaving her in a black t-shirt and a dark-blue miniskirt. With the mattress squeaking under her weight, she put herself in the most comfortable position she could manage and closed her eyes.

"Tomorrow's another day…" she whispered to herself before drifting into sleep. "Just like every other day…"


	2. Rebelling

The loud screeching of tires, a hair-raising crash followed by the sound of glass shattering, and an ear-numbing police siren approaching from the distance. All those combined were enough to drive anyone mad, but to Lexy it was so common that she actually considered it like an alarm clock.

Slowly opening her eyes, she tried to adjust her vision to the extremely bright light emanating from the street through her cracked bedroom window. She could see the sky as blue as her eyes, with barely any clouds, and smiled to herself. Even if everything else in her life was a mess, she loved a bright sunny day. It made her feel warm and cozy, as if for just a moment everything was right in the world.

Pushing herself up, she stretched her arms up and let out a deep yawn, and as she was rubbing her eyes she heard the unmistakable clinking of keys, followed by the sound of her door being unlocked. All the joy she had felt not a minute ago was sucked out of her as soon as her door was opened and her gaze fell upon her dad's unhappy face.

"Good, you're up." He grumbled, still noticeably hung-over from last night's drinking. "Go on, you've got work to do."

Giving him a single nod, Lexy took her sweatshirt and put it on as she rushed out, heading to the exact same place where she went the previous day.

* * *

Cut off the barcode, stick a Band-Aid over the whole; same procedure as always. But despite her experience, Lexy was feeling rather uneasy today: there was now a large and menacing-looking bull at the door working as a security guard, and when she got in he gave her a look that sent shivers down her spine. Even thought he was miles away from where she was, she could swear that she felt his gaze burning onto her back.

When she got everything she wanted she headed towards the exit, seeing the muscular guard standing right on the other side of the sensor gates. He saw her, and she looked away; probably not the best idea. Swallowing the lump forming in her throat, she walked forward as calmly as she could. As she passed the gates without any alarm sounding, she sighed in extreme relief, relief which immediately disappeared when she felt a heavy hand grabbing her shoulder.

"Excuse me, little girl." she heard a deep powerful voice behind her. Slowly turning around she saw what confirmed her fears: it was the security guard. "Would you mind lifting up your sweatshirt?"

Sweating heavily and feeling like was going to pass out at any moment, Lexy did the best thing she could think of: she pointed at her ears, shook her head and shrugged to give the impression that she was deaf.

"Oh come now, I'm not that stupid." He remarked, seeing through her little act. "I've dealt with little hooligans like you before. Now cooperate."

He crossed his arms and waited for her to comply. Lexy couldn't think of anything else to do, so she ran out the door as fast as her little legs could manage.

"Hey!" she heard him shout as she dashed through the automatic doors.

She kept running up the street as fast as she could, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see if he was coming up behind her. She couldn't see him, but her distracted state made her bump into someone on the street, and she was running so fast that the impact mad her fall onto her back and her hood was pushed back off her head.

"Hey! Watch… it?"

Sitting up and rubbing her back, her eyes widened as she saw who she had collided with: one was a fish with legs, which was unusual, but not as unusual as the other, who was a blue cat that looked exactly like her, the only difference being the color of their fur. They were staring wide-eyed at her with their mouths slightly agape. Lexy got up to take a closer look at the character that had enough resemblances to be her clone.

"Darwin... am I looking at a gender-bending mirror of some sort?" the cat asked the fish, not taking his eyes off of the figure in front of him for a second. The fish rubbed his chin in thought, took a step towards Lexy and pocked her cheek.

"Nope, she's real." He replied, smiling at her. She smiled back.

"OK… this is really freaky..." the blue feline commented as he approached her. "Who are you?"

"Gumball! You can't just ask a girl who she is like that!" the fish scolded his friend. He cleared his throat and joined his fins together in front of his face in a polite fashion. "Hello. What's your name?"

Before she could reply, Lexy heard the sound of shoes rapidly tapping against the concrete, and when she looked back she saw the security guard she had ran from approaching them quickly. She quickly pushed the cat and the fish out of her way and continued running. Looking back she saw them staring at her perplexed, and she felt bad for leaving them.

* * *

"YOU IDIOT!"

Jason slapped her across the face, so hard she lost her balance and fell on her rear. Rubbing her now stinging cheek with tears in her eyes, she looked up at her dad, his face twisted in anger and huffing with rage.

"Do you realize what you did?!" he spat at her. "If he followed you, he most likely saw where we live! He's probably calling in the cops right now and giving them our address!"

"No, I-I…"

"SHUT UP!" he slapped her other cheek, slap which made her roll over and fall on her stomach.

Lexy gave in and started sobbing, from both pain and fear, her face turned onto the dirty floorboard. Jason started to calm down with that sight and let out a frustrated sigh, pressing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"You're completely useless. Just go to your room." He waved her off, turning away.

Lexy weakly forced herself to stand up, taking a step towards her room, but froze. A new feeling washed over her, a mix of anger, courage and determination. Suddenly she felt like she was strong enough to take on anyone who crossed her, starting with her father.

"No." she said in a low tone. Jason turned to her, his eyes wide in disbelief for what he had just heard.

"What did you say?" he asked in a threatening tone.

"I said NO!" Lexy shouted as she turned to face him. "I'm sick of the way you treat me! I don't know much about parenting, but I do know that parents are supposed to be kind and caring for their children! And I don't remember you ever being like that!"

"You have some nerve!" He replied as he stepped towards her, stopping just a few inches away. "I took care of you since you were a baby! I gave you a home! I taught you everything I know!"

"You make me STEAL for you! You don't feed me, you don't let me go anywhere I want, and this house is DISGUSTING!" she gestured around the room to prove her point. "This is no condition to live in! I'm sick of it, and I'm sick of you!"

Jason's lips curled into a small smile and he let out a small chuckle.

"So what are you going to do?" he asked in a mocking tone. "It's not like you have anywhere else to go. I'm the only one you've got."

"Anywhere is better than here. I'll even sleep on the streets if have to, but I'll manage fine on my own."

She took a step forward to walk past him, but he gripped her arm tightly before she could go any further.

"You're not going anywhere!" he growled at her.

"Let me go!" Lexy tried her best to release herself from his grasp, but he was too strong for her, and was holding her so firmly it hurt.

Suddenly Jason's hears perked up and his angry expression turned to one of fear as he looked up to the window behind Lexy. She could also hear it: police sirens approaching. He threw her on the floor and ran to the window, trying to see if the police cars were heading that way. Taking her chance, Lexy thought about heading out the door, but remembered he kept it locked at all times, and he was the only one who had the key. Then she remembered something that could save her life.

One night Jason had fallen asleep while watching a crime drama series, in which she remembered hearing someone explain that you could stick a piece of chewed gum into the lock of a door, and after locking it could be opened as if it wasn't. Springing into action, she took the pack of gum she had taken for herself the previous day from her pocket and quickly chew a piece as fast and well as she could, sticking the wet sticky wad onto the lock of her room's door right afterwards. She figured that if she could exit her room while he was asleep, she might be able to take the keys from him and escape.

As the sound of the police sirens started to disappear, Jason turned back away from the window, now noticeably calmer.

"You got lucky." He stated, still trying to catch his breath from the scare. "That wasn't for us. Now go to your room if you know what's good for you." He growled that last part at her.

Lexy gave him a menacing frown and did as she was told, and again he locked the door behind her as soon as she set foot in the room, but for once she didn't mind. Smirking to herself she let her escape plan form itself in her mind.


	3. Escaping

She pushed her ear against the door about seven hours later, eager to detect any sound that would indicate that Jason was asleep, and smiled as she heard him snore loudly on the other side. Standing up she grabbed the doorknob, taking a deep breath and preparing herself. With a twist of her wrist she turned the rusty metal sphere, hearing a click, and before she knew it the door was open. Just as she had foretold, the piece of chewed gum didn't allow the door to lock.

As she pushed the door back she saw the gum stretch out like a piece of taffy, and when she looked inside the living room she saw that, besides the moonlight entering through the open window, the room was illuminated by the light coming from the TV, and her gaze fell upon a passed-out Jason, lying on his chair with several empty beer cans on the floor around him. Crossing under the now stretched gum, and thanking the fact that she was a cat so that she could walk without making a sound, she slowly tiptoed across the squeaky floorboard towards the sleeping dog.

She softly leaned against the chair's armrest and observed him. Somehow he seemed even more vicious when he was asleep, growling when he snored and showing his sharp dirty teeth as if he was having a permanent nightmare. Lexy gulped and lifted up her arm to try and reach for the top pocket of his brown leather jacket, where she knew he always kept the keys. Her fingers were just a few inches away from reaching the pocket, when suddenly…

"Tonight, on our special report…" the news anchorman announced. "…we review the story of Lexy Watterson, who was kidnapped exactly seven years ago."

Freezing in the middle of her mission, she felt her heart skip a beat as she turned to face the screen. Could that be about her? She knew that were a large number of girls named Lexy out there, but there was always a one-in-a-million chance it could be her.

"Little Lexy Watterson was only three years old when she was taken from her family." Explained the reporter as a photo of two baby kittens, one pink and one blue, appeared on the screen, and she immediately recognized the pink kitten as herself. "Seen here with her twin brother, Lexy was a happy baby until the faithful day when she disappeared from her mother's sight at a local supermarket."

"I have a twin brother?" she whispered, forgetting all about getting the keys from Jason's pocket and walking away to sit in front of the TV, her wide eyes almost glued to the screen.

"Desperate and worried-sick, Lexy's parents Nicole and Richard Watterson looked for their baby girl for days on end, but with no luck." The reporter continued as a blue female cat and an overweight pink rabbit appeared with the year 2006 written on the top right corner of the screen.

"I don't know what happened! One minute she was there, and when I turned around she wasn't anymore!" the cat exclaimed, her face washed in tears. The pink rabbit was crying desperately next to her.

"I just want my baby back!" he shouted between his sobs. The cat hugged him, starting to cry as well.

"Mom… Dad…" Lexy couldn't believe her hears. The individual who had kept her all these years… who she thought was her own FATHER… was only her kidnapper. Everything made so much sense now, especially why he treated her like he did.

There was something else itching in her brain. The cat on the TV looked like… the cat she had run into that morning! He was… her twin brother! Suddenly her memory was rekindled and scenes from her childhood started flashing before her eyes. Her mom… her dad… Jason… it was all explained now.

Panting from the shock and holding her head to stabilize herself, she watched the rest of the report.

"To this day the Wattersons have no clue about the whereabouts of their daughter, who must now be twelve years old." The reporter continued as the screen now showed a house which Lexy assumed as being her parents' house. "For all we know she might not even be alive anymore, but we, such as her parents, old onto the hope that she is. For the Nine O'clock News, I'm Patrick Grayson. Goodnight."

The report ended as the Nine O'clock News logo flashed through while the credits rolled and the jingle played. Lexy couldn't stop staring at the screen as she tried to put her thoughts together. Jason had kidnapped her when she was three, her parents were desperately trying to track her down, and she had a twin brother. So far that was all she had. Jason wasn't her dad, that wasn't her real house…

"My whole life… is a lie…"

Suddenly she was snapped back into the present when the TV turned off in front of her. Her heart sunk as she turned around and saw Jason holding the remote and looking at her menacingly.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked in a calm threatening tone as he slowly stood up. "How did you get out?"

She unconsciously looked over at her room's door, still open and with gum stretching all the way from it to the lock. Jason followed her gaze and frowned even more.

"You insolent little minx." he looked back at her and took a step forward. "You thought you could escape, didn't you?"

He slowly advanced towards her and Lexy did the best she could to stay away as she backed up against the TV, pressing her back against the cold glass screen. She shivered in her place as he looked down at her, fearing for what he would do next.

"You'll never get out. You're mine, you hear? Mine!"

He reached down to grab her, but she was able to escape at the last minute by quickly launching herself through the space between his legs. He looked back at her to see her unleash her sharps claws, anger bubbling inside her.

"You're not my dad!" she shouted at him, facing him with a menacing frown. "You took me from my family!"

He ran towards her in an attempt to grab her again, but she just jumped out of the way and sank her claws into the top of his head. Yelping he fell onto his knees, grasping his bleeding scalp.

"You lied to me all these years!" she growled, taking a step towards him. "You made me live in this awful place, and made me STEAL for you!"

She swung her claws again, cutting through his left eyelid. Jason moaned in pain as he now fell onto his back and he held his paws over his eye, which was bleeding even more than his head.

"What gives you the right to treat me like this?!" she growled even louder as she stood right next to the now wining Rottweiler who was terrified looking at her with his good eye. "I'm not yours! I NEVER WILL BE!"

She swung her paw towards his face and he covered it with his arms, thinking she was going to take another swing at his eye, but when he heard a slashing sound and didn't feel anything he uncovered his face and looked down to see she had just torn one of his jacket's pockets. Reaching down she took his keys and headed towards the door, unlocking it and walking out. Jason managed to weakly sit up, cringing in pain as his wounds still bled profusely.

"You think this is over? Not by a long shot." he snarled, his voice echoing through the empty room. "I will find you, Lexy. If it's the last thing I do."

* * *

Lexy walked through the empty streets of Elmore, shivering under the cold night air. She wanted to find her parents' house, but it was too late and it could be miles away for what she knew. She almost regretted having left her apartment, but it was far too late to turn back now. And she didn't want to imagine what Jason would do to her if he could put his paws on her.

She had no idea how she managed to stand up to him. It was like some weird force had taken over her and gave her super strength and courage… she just couldn't explain it. Looking down at her paws, she saw they were still smeared with Jason's blood, and it almost made her sick. She made a mental note of finding somewhere to wash it off soon.

After what seemed like hours of walking, Lexy was exhausted and her legs were getting week. She looked around for a place to stay, but all she saw was the local park. She rushed towards the entrance and jumped through the gate, always making sure nobody could see her. After washing her paws in the pond, she settled for lying under a large tree, using a tossed-away newspaper to cover herself. Shivering under the cold grass, she hoped that tomorrow would be a better day and that she would be able to find her family, and eventually dozed off into sleep.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course it is! It's the best idea!"

Gumball and Darwin were walking around the park as the oldest of the two waved a metal detector over the ground, hoping to find something valuable.

"I still can't believe Granny Jojo let you borrow Grandpa's World War II metal detector!" Darwin commented at his feline brother.

"I'm glad she did!" Gumball replied, not taking his eyes off the ground. "This way we're sure to find a treasure!"

"I don't know, Gumball. So far all we found were thirty-seven bottle caps, fifteen soda cans and an old retainer."

"Have patience, Darwin. We're close, I can feel it."

Suddenly the frequency of the metal detector's beeping increased, indicating that something made of metal was near. Gumball grinned widely.

"See? What did I tell you?" he moved the detector around to see in which direction the object was, finally realizing it was right in front of him. "Come on!"

The two raced towards the direction of where the supposed object was, the metal detector's beeping increasing with each step until it became a continuous sound when they reached a large tree.

"We must've hit the Jackpot!"

The metal detector indicated that the metal object was under a newspaper that was right next to the tree, which by the shape it was taking seemed to have something large under it, but his grin died when he threw it away and all he saw was a sleeping pink cat in dirty clothes.

"What… how…" he mumbled, looking from the metal detector to the cat and back several times before sighing in defeat and throwing the contraption away. "This thing stinks."

"Wait, Gumball." Darwin shushed his brother and pointed down. "Didn't she run into us yesterday? You even said she looked exactly like you!"

"Oh, yeah! Wait, does she live here?"

"I had no idea she was homeless. We could've taken her home and given her shelter."

Lexy slowly opened her eyes as she heard commotion around her, and the first things she saw were a blue cat and a fish with legs standing next to her.

"You really think mom would let us take home another homeless person after what happened with Santa?" Gumball asked, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Why not? It's the right thing to do!" Darwin replied, placing his fins on his hips.

Lexy took a minute to understand all that was going on around her, but when she realized who the two individuals in front of her were, she quickly jumped up and wrapped her arms around Gumball, squeezing him in a tight hug.

"It's you! I'm so glad to see you!" she cried out in sheer joy with the widest of smiles across her face.

"O…K…" Gumball managed to say, completely stunned and wondering why on Earth a girl he had only seen once was hugging him like they were related. Lexy saw the freaked out look on his face and let out a chuckle.

"You have no idea who I am, do you?" she giggled. He was in for a surprise.

"Actually, no. You ran off before you had the chance to tell us."

"Yeah, you're right. I should've had the decency to at least tell you I was your twin sister."

"WHAT?!" Gumball and Darwin shouted in unison, their mouths hanging open and their eyes as wide as saucers. Lexy giggled again and let go of her brother.

"Yeah, I was surprised to find out, too. I didn't know until last night." she explained, folding her paws behind her back and rocking herself back and forth.

Gumball opened his mouth as if to say something but quickly shut it.

"Wait…" he scratched his head in thought. "I think I remember you! From when we were little! But… what happened to you?"

"I was kidnapped. Didn't mom tell you?"

"No, she didn't!"

"I have another sister?" Darwin asked when he finally managed to come out of his shocked state.

"Wait, he's… But how…?" Lexy mumbled, trying to understand how she could have a fish for a brother.

"He's adopted." Gumball whispered to her, to which she nodded. "Well, I guess we should head home. And you're coming with us… uh…"

"Lexy." she replied with a smile. "My name is Lexy."


	4. Living

Meanwhile in the Watterson household, Nicole was sitting in the living room couch crying as she observed a framed photograph of her and Richard holding their twin babies in their arms, Nicole holding Lexy and Richard holding Gumball. She couldn't get over the fact that she had lost her little girl, as she much as she tried to forget it. Just as one of her tears fell onto the glass covering the photo, her husband walked out of the kitchen with a sandwich and noticed the state his wife was in. Sitting down next to her, he took a look at what she was looking at and wrapped his arm around her.

"Nicole, you gotta let it go." he tried to soothe her. "We have no idea where she is, nor if she's even still – "

"DON'T SAY THAT!" she snapped, making him take his arm off her. She sighed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry. It's just… I miss her so much." she started sobbing again.

"I know, honey. I know…" Richard reassured her as he patted her shoulder, starting to cry himself.

"I'd give anything to see her again…" Nicole murmured between her sobs.

"Mom, we're home!"

She looked up, and even though her vision was blurry from her tears, she could distinguish a blue and tan form that she knew was her oldest son, followed by an orange form which was Darwin, and a pink and black form that she didn't know. She wiped her tears away, and her eyes almost flew out of her head when she saw who it was.

"L-L-Lexy?" she stuttered in complete disbelief and looked over at Richard, who was just as stunned as her.

"Yes, mom. It's me." Lexy replied with a faint smile.

Nicole felt the tears rise again as she ran towards her daughter and fell onto her knees to hold her in tight hug.

"My baby! My little Lexy! You're back!" she cried as she her little girl close to her. "I missed you so much!"

"I… I missed you too, mommy!" Lexy exclaimed as she also gave into her tears. Richard ran to the two cats and hugged them both.

"We… we thought you were gone forever!" he joined in the crying. Both Gumball and Darwin were also starting to sniffle.

"This is so beautiful!" Darwin whimpered.

"I know!" Gumball whimpered back as the two hugged and cried on each other's shoulders.

"But… I don't understand…" said Nicole when she calmed down and she and her husband released their daughter from the hug. "How did you find us?"

"Actually, they found me." she gestured towards Gumball and Darwin. "I was sleeping at the park and they just happened to stumble upon me."

"I'm just glad you're back." Nicole examined her daughter from head to toe. "You're so beautiful and grown-up…" her smiled died as her emotions faded enough to see the state Lexy was in. "…and filthy! What happened to you?"

"The guy who kidnapped me didn't care for me at all… not even to provide me with basic hygiene…"

"Oh, my poor baby…" said Nicole as she wiped a smudge of dirt from her daughter's cheek.

"What's going on?"

They all turned to the top of stairs, where Anais was looking confusedly at her parents and at the dirty pink cat she had never seen before in her life. Nicole stood up and put an arm around Lexy.

"Anais, this is Lexy. She's your sister." Nicole informed her youngest child with a smile. Anais just looked more confused.

"I have a sister?" she asked to no one in particular as she slowly headed down the stairs.

She stopped right in front of her newfound sibling, examining her from head to toe. Lexy was afraid she didn't like her and wouldn't accept her as a part of her family, but to her surprise, after a few minutes of silence, the pink bunny smiled at her.

"Finally, another girl in the house!" Anais declared as she hugged her new sister. Lexy hugged her back with a giggle.

She had never known happiness like this.

* * *

After taking a bath and her mom throwing her old clothes in the trash, Lexy put on a fresh pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt her brother kindly lent her, just to have something to wear until they could go out clothes shopping for her the next day. Feeling clean and invigorated, she and the rest of the Watterson clan enjoyed a nice family dinner, the nicest they had ever had. Lexy told them all what had happened to her along the years; how the character she thought was her father made her steal for him every day, how he locked her up without feeding her, and how she finally managed to escape. Nicole had tears in her eyes through the whole story and wasn't able to finish her meal, being completely overwhelmed with emotions.

They watched TV together until it was the kids' bedtime. Gumball lent his sister one of his pajamas to sleep in and Anais agreed to let her sleep in the top bunk with her. However, long after her siblings had fallen asleep, the pink feline was still tossing and turning under the covers, ultimately lying on her back and staring up into the darkness. The visions of an injured Jason were still too vivid in her memory. What if he had seen where she had gone? What if he would come back for revenge? What if… he would take her away from her family again?

Shaking those thoughts away, Lexy gave up trying to fall asleep and softly pulled the covers off herself, being careful so as not to wake Anais up. Slowly and quietly climbing down from the bunk, she made her way out the room and headed towards the one her mom had told was her and her dad's room. Hesitating at first, she gently gave a knock on the door.

"Mom?" she whispered as poked her head inside the door. Nicole sat up quickly, thinking something was wrong with her.

"Yes sweetie, what is it?" she whispered, worried. Lexy hesitated once again, staring down at her feet slightly embarrassed.

"Can I… sleep in your bed tonight?"

"Of course, honey." Nicole replied with a sigh and a comprehensive smile, scooting to make room for her.

Lexy walked across the room and crawled onto the bed, positioning herself under the covers between Nicole and Richard, who was snoring loudly in his sleep. She leaned against her mother, basking in the warmth of her body, and Nicole held her in a tight embrace, as if she never wanted to let her go again. The sheer comfort of her mother's hug and the notion that she would always be there to protect her from now on were enough to calm her down in a way she had never felt before, and she was glad she was finally back with her family. Life had been rough on her, and she deserved to be happy for a change.

Blissful and content with her new life, Lexy dozed off into a deep sleep, thanking the heavens for helping her escape her dreadful past and enter a better and happier future.


End file.
